My Korean-American Life

  generated by Google AI Today, March 3, 2026, is Jeongwol Daeboreum *—the first full moon of the lunar year. As I succeeded in making castella with rice flour instead of wheat and a pressure cooker instead of an oven, I decided to try my hand at siru-tteok . Instead of ogokbap , I cooked patjuk —the red bean porridge I’d missed making on Dongji (the winter solstice). But I had boiled far too many red beans, so I thought I might as well use them up and see if I could make the rice cake easily in a pressure cooker instead of a traditional steamer. After skimming a rough recipe, I set the pressure cooker to its all-purpose steam function and let it run for fifty minutes. When I took it out, the result looked like neither tteok nor bread. I cut off a slice and tasted it—it bore none of the flavor or texture of rice cake at all. Where, exactly, does the difference between the taste of tteok and the taste of bread come from? How is that distinctive chewiness of tteok born? I found mysel...

I loved rainy days when I was an elementary kid as the Castella my mom made was waiting for me. The smell came first—warm, sweet, faintly caramelized— before I opened the gate.  To me, Castella isn't just a sponge cake; it is the flavor of my mother’s love. Recently, yearning for that nostalgic sweetness, I checked a recipe and made it in my kitchen. A Journey Across the Sea: The History of Castella The story of Castella is one of cultural fusion. It originated from the Spanish region of Castile (hence the name Pão de Castela or "Bread of Castile") and was brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. What makes it unique is its evolution. While Western sponge cakes often rely on butter, the traditional Castella is fat-free, —made simply from eggs, sugar, and flour—, refined over centuries into the dense, moist, and springy delicacy we adore today in East Asia. The Magic of Meringue The secret to a perfect Castella—one that doesn't collapse but stands...

  삼 주 전에 내린 눈이 이제야 녹기 시작한다. 이곳 북버지니아에 와 산 지 25년이 지났지만, 이번처럼 눈과 한파가 함께 몰려와 얼음 왕국이 된 적은 처음이다. 폭설이 내린 후 급격히 떨어진 기온으로, 온통 얼음으로 굳어져 버린 것이다. 1월 말에 생일인 친구의 생일 모임을 2월 중순에서야 갖게 되었다. 지난 12월 모임 때 잊고 전해주지 못했던 씨앗을 챙겼다. 내 씨앗 상자를 열어 한국 토종 호박과 콩 씨앗을 작은 봉지에 나눠 담았다.  발렌타인데이(14일)와 병오년(붉은 말의 해)가 시작되는 설날(17일)이 연이어진 주말 저녁이어서인지 태국 음식점인 동남아 식당 안엔 사람들로 가득 차 시끌벅적했다. 친구들은 이미 와 모두 자리에 앉아 나를 맞이했다. 텍사스에서 이곳 북버지아로 이사 온 후 몇 해 지나 교회 가족단위 모임에서 만난 이들로 어느새 이십 년이 넘는 세월 동안 네 쌍의 부부가 모임을 이어오고 있다. 때론 남자끼리 만나 술모임을 하기도 하고 여자끼리는 꼭 생일을 챙겨 만난다. 여자 넷의 생일이 겨울, 봄, 여름, 가을에 걸쳐 있어 계절이 바뀔 때마다 한 번은 볼 수 있어 그간의 안부와 소식을 나누며 정겨운 시간을 보낸다. 그렇게 맛있는 음식과 화담으로 즐거운 시간을 보낸 후 씨앗을 나눠주고 헤어져 돌아오는 길에야 생각이 났다. “호박과 콩 씨앗과 함께 옥수수 씨앗도 함께 가져왔어야 했는데… 세 씨앗을 함께 건네며 꼭 세 자매 이야기도 해줬어야 했는데…” 다른 모임에 갔다가 저녁 모임에 늦어 급히 상자 맨 위에 놓인 두 씨앗만 급히 챙겨 온 것이다. 이로쿼이(Iroquois)족과 체로키(Cherokee)족을 비롯한 북미 원주민들은 옥수수, 콩, 호박을 함께 재배해 이를 '세 자매(Three Sisters)'라 부른다. 옥수수는 곧게 서서 지지대가 되고, 콩은 옥수수 줄기를 덩굴로 감싸안아 강풍 속에서도 옥수수가 버틸 수 있도록 구조적 안정성을 제공한다. 또한 콩은 질소 고정 (窒素固定, nitrogen fixation)을 통해 토양...

Last month, I brought home a sweater from ReFiber with a promise: I would bring it back after fixing the holes. The wool sweater was warm, well-worn, and imperfect with a few holes.  This was my first time darning a sweater. As I typed how to fix sweater holes, small darning loom kits popped up on the screen. As usual, I first checked if I could 3D-print this kit instead of buying one, and made one at home. But in the process, I discovered a profound truth of upcycling: The best tools aren't bought; they are found. With just a smooth jar lid, some wool yarn, and a needle, you can transform a discarded sweater into a statement of sustainable fashion. Here is how to master the art of the mend. Why Darning, Why Now In an age of fast fashion and endless consumption, a hole often marks the end of a garment’s life. But historically, holes were simply a moment when care was required. Darning, patching, and mending were once basic domestic skills, practiced quietly and repeatedly, often by...

About two weeks ago, my younger child, Jen, came home holding a dessert that looked remarkably like chapssaltteok , the chewy Korean rice cake. She proudly exclaimed, “It’s the Dujjonku , the current craze in Korea!” “Dujjonku?” I murmured, staring at it   “Thick and Chewy Cookie!” Jen quartered it and offered me a piece. The exterior was as delightfully chewy as a rice cake, but the interior was a sweet jumble of crunchy cookies and melted chocolate. The extreme sweetness was a sharp blow, so intense it made my body shudder as if a shard of ice had pierced me. It was a visceral sensation that struck the very core of the brain. A few days later, my nephew, who lives with us and approaches cooking with genuine devotion, brought over several Dujjonku he had made with friends. I could not refuse a piece made by his own hand. Unlike the first, this was far less sweet, its crunch balanced perfectly with the chewy texture, leaving me wanting more. “How did you make it this delicious? It’...

  About a month ago, a friend of mine led me to this place after visiting a nearby fiber arts exhibit where my pieces were included. During the MLK long weekend, I went again with my husband as I liked that place’s vibe so much. Today, the Historic Savage Mill, once manufacturing cotton duck, has been repurposed into a space for art, commerce, and community. The looms are long gone, yet, the massive architecture remains—a heavy, brick-and-mortar. Walking inside this weathered brick mall of the Historic Savage Mill in Maryland, I felt a peculiar vibration in the air—a rhythmic ghost-clatter of history and ordinary life. A huge poster on a wall I faced and read: “In 1822, its first carding building was built using stones from the river bed of the Patuxent; the main product was cotton duck used primarily for sailcloth. B&O railway connection in 1835 brought a spur to the mill. In 1859, a new owner, William Henry Baldwin Jr bought this Savage Manufacturing Co with the land and fact...

  My nephew, a South Korean citizen, graduated in the US and started working under OPT in 2025. To help him to file his first US tax return soon, I prepared some instructions for him, and I'm sharing this for other international students in similar situations. First, you need to determine Your Tax Residency The first step is knowing if you are a Non-Resident Alien (NRA) or Resident Alien (RA). The 5-Year Rule: Most F-1 students are considered "exempt individuals" from the Substantial Presence Test for their first 5 calendar years in the U.S. Remember this rule is 5-Year Lifetime Cumulative, meaning gap years (in case you left for Korea to fulfil mandatory military service and return in two years) don't count, but prior years stay on your record. Example: If you entered the U.S. in 2022, 2026 is your 5th year. You are still an NRA. If 2026 is your 6th calendar year, you may have transitioned to "Resident Alien" status.  You do not count the number of days ...